International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is the most complex international scientific and engineering project in history and the largest structure humans have ever put into space. The high-flying satellite is used both as a laboratory for new technologies, and an observation platform for astronomical, environmental and geological research. It is a permanently occupied outpost in outer space and it is considered to be a stepping-stone for further space exploration. This includes Mars, which NASA is now stating is its goal for human space exploration. The space station flies at an average altitude of 220 miles above Earth. It circles the globe every 90 minutes at a speed of about 17,500 mph. In one day, the station travels about the distance it would take to go from Earth to the moon and back. The astronauts get to see the sunrise every one and a half hours. Five different space agencies representing 15 countries built the $100-billion International Space Station and continue

to operate it today. The prime partners on the project are NASA, Russia's Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscomos), the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

What is the International Space Station?

The International Space Station (ISS) was taken into space piece-by-piece and gruadually built in orbit. It took an astounding 136 space flights on seven different types of launch vehicles to build it. It consists of modules and connecting nodes that contain living quarters and laboratories, as well as exterior trusses that provide structure support, and solar panels that provide power. The first piece was launched in 1998 by Russia's Zarya. Over time, more pieces have been added. Two years later, the station was ready for people. The first crew arrived on

November 2, 2000. People have lived on the space station ever since. NASA and its partners around the world finished the space station in 2011.Starting in 2015, changes were made to prepare the station for crewed commercial spacecraft, which will begin arriving as early as 2017. Two international docking adapters will be added to the station.

Current plans call for the space station to be operated through at least 2020. NASA has requested an extension until 2024. Discussion to extend the space station's lifetime are ongoing among all international partners. Several countries such as Canada, Russia and Japan have expressed their support for extending the station's operations.

Building the Station

If you had the money, would you take a trip to the International Space Station?

The space station, including its large solar arrays, spans the area of a U.S. football field, including the end zones, and weighs 861,804 pounds, not including visiting vehicles. It has the space of a five-bedroom conventional house with two bathrooms, gym facilities, a 360-degree bay window and science labs from the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe. Six people are able to live there comfortably.

How big is the station?

What are the parts of the space station?The space station has many parts. The parts are called modules. The first module had parts needed to make the station work. Astronauts also lived in those modules. Modules called "nodes" connect parts of the station to each other and connect to the different labs. On the sides of the space station are solar arrays. These arrays collect energy from the sun and convert it into electricity. Robot arms are attached to the outside of the space station and help the astronauts build the station. They are also used to move astronauts around outside and control science experiments. There are airlocks on the space station and they are like doors. They allow the astronauts to go outside on the occasional space walk. Docking ports are like doors too. The ports allow visiting spacecraft to connect to the space station. New crews and visitors enter the station through the docking ports.

Would you feel comfortable living in space with all these accomodations?

Where is the space station?The International Space Station is at an average of 220 miles above Earth's surface. On a clear day, the ISS is easily visible to the naked eye from the ground. At night it looks like a bright star moving quicky above the horizon. You can go to the webpage:www.spotthestation.nasa.gov and find out where the space station is located at that moment and when you will be able to see it above your home.

Have you ever looked for the space station in the night sky?

A six-person expedition crew typically stays four to six months aboard the ISS. The first space station crews were three-person teams, though after the tragic Columbia shuttle disaster the crew size temporarly dropped to two-person teams. The space station reached its full six-person crew size in 2009 as new modules, laboratories and facilities were brought online. The record gathering in space was set during NASA's STS-127 shuttle mission aboard Endeavour. The shuttles seven-person crew went aboard the orbiting lab, joining the six spaceflyers already there. The 13-person party was the largest ever gathering of people in space at the same time. Crews are not only responsible for science, but also for maintaining the station.

The Crew

Crew activities consist of conducting experiments and research considered vital to space exploration. These activities are scheduled from 6 a.m. to 9:30 pm, with breaks for breakfast, lunch, dinner and regular crew conferences. Every crew member has their own quarters which includes a teathered sleeping bag. During "night hours" the windows are covered to give the impression of darkness. (Since the station sees 16 sunrises and sunsets a day). Two exercise periods of one hour each are scheduled every day to ensure that the risks of muscle atrophy and bone loss are minimized. Hygiene is maintained thanks to water jets and soap dispensed from tubes, as well as wet wipes, rinseless shampoo, and edible toothpaste. Sanitation is provided by two space toilets. Astronauts fasten themselves to the toilet seat and the removal of waste is accomplished with a vacuum suction hole.

Liquid waste is transferred to the water recovery system, where it is converted back into drinking water. Solid waste is collected in invididual bags that are stored in an aluminum container, which are then transferred to the docked spacecraft for disposal. Food aboard the station consists of maily freeze-dried meals in vacuum-sealed plastic bags. Fresh fruit and vegetables are brought during resupply missions, and a large array of spices and

condiments are used to ensure that food is flavorful - which is important since one of the effects of microgravity is diminished sense of taste.

Daily life for the crew

Could you live on the space station?What do you think would be the hardest part of living in space?

How does space affect the crew?

How does space affect the crew?

Are there doctor visits in space?

The ISS mission control center in Houston, Texas has a staff of flight controllers available 24/7, 365 days a year. One of those flight controllers carries the title of flight surgeon. They serve as the medical eyes and ears for every astronaut and cosmonaut on board the ISS. But the flight surgeon is 250 miles away, and seated at a computer terminal, so their ability to aid the crew is limited in many aspects. So, NASA chooses a crew medical officer for each mission. This person will be able to provide limited support to any on board medical situations and/or emergencies. The crew medical officer would receive additional training for handling

several key scenarios. For example, collecting blood samples, perform urinary (Foley) catheters, execute defibrillation, intubation, the administering of sutures, basic dental (pull a tooth) and eye care (search for foreign objects). So how do they handle a serious medical event on the space station? The first thing crew does is contact ground immediately, while heading to their medical procedures book. Crew then works through the problem while talking with the grounds crew. To date, there has been no critical medical issues

on the space station. The worst scenario could be a heart-attack or burst appendix. It is very possible that part of the crew would depart the station for Earth. Scary considerations for the crew. This is why astronauts are required to go through so much medical screening before selection as astronauts, and then again before they are assigned to fly in space. They do not want any medical scenarios to ever occur, but one day, when humans actually move away from our secluded planet Earth, astronauts will be ready to accept the challenge.

How would you feel about being in space with a medical emergency?

How do you think living in space would change your body?

Scientific research on the space station

Research on the space station focuses on achieving scientific discoveries, developing applications and benefiting people on Earth while preparing for future space exploration. From metal furnaces to space gardens and -80 degrees Celcius freezers, the station has it all. These facilities are available to scientists across a wide range of disciplines to conduct research that connot possibly be done on Earth.

The Columbus laboratory has mounting points for experiments that could be exposed to the vacuum of space and an unhindered view of Earth! The science packages can investigate anything from the ability of bacteria to survive on an artificial meteorite to volcanic activity on our planet from above. Weightlessness offers the perfect environment to study fluids, free from the constrains of gravity. Scientists can simulate Earth in the lab to study how the flow of molten rock moves on the surface of the Earth. Gravity will always influence the results, but in space, experiments can be run repeatedly without interference.

The weightlessness is also helping scientitst understand the human body. Astonauts in space absorb more salt without absorbing more fluids - that goes against medical knowledge. Cell research in space is offering clues on how to control ageing. A A biology experiment revealed that certain enzymes in our immune system are more active in space, showing scientists on Earth where to look to combat premature cell death.

What would you like to experiment with in space?What would you send into space to see the affect of

weightlessness?

Fun Experiments in

Space!1. Headless flatwormsOn Earth, flatworms can regenerate their own cells, replacing them as they age or are damaged. Scientists cut the heads or tails off the flatworms and sent them to the space

station in Sept. 2014 to study whether the cell signaling mechanism behind this regeneration works the same way in space as they do on Earth. The results should provide how gravity affects tissue regeneration and the rebuilding of damaged organs and nerves, which is important for understanding how wounds heal - both in space and on the ground.

2. Space miceFor humans to explore deep space or live on other planets, we must learn how to deal with the effects of long-term exposure to potent space radiation, which can cause cancer and gene mutations, affecting subsequent generations. Lab mice are important tools for studying radiation effects, but currently, mice can't go to the station. So instead, this investigation will send frozen mouse embryos for a ride in space and implant them into surrogate mothers on their return to Earth. Scientists will use these space mice to study longevity, cancer development, and gene mutation.

3. Talking zucchiniIn 2012, Astonaut Don Pettit wrote a blog post on behalf of a zucchini plant that was grown from a seed on the space station. The ultimate goal is using plants to provide oxygen and fresh produce for crews on long-term space missions. Gravity plays an important role in normal plant growth and development, they wanted to test the nonexistent gravity and radiation effects on the plant.

What plant would you send to space to see the effects?

4. Putting out the fireFire behaves differently in space, thanks to complicated interactions of fuel vaporization, radiative heat loss, and chemical kinetics. Experiments performed in space are studying those interactions. Tests are performed to study various fire suppressants in

microgravity. Researchers found that flames in space burn with a lower temperature, at a slower rate, and with less oxygen than in normal gravity.

5. ISS, RobotThis two-armed humanoid robot torso mounted in the station can manupulate hardware and work in high risk environments to give crewmembers a break. Robonaut is operated via remote control and can be directed by ground operators through cabin video and telemtry. The half-a-mechanical astronaut also can be controlled by a crewmember wearing a vest, specialized gloves, and a 3D visor. It is simular to the control when you are playing Wii. The future robot will be given legs and used to perform tasks both inside and outside the ISS.

6. Ant farmThis investigation compared the behavior of groups of ants in normal gravity and microgravity and measured how interactions among ants depend on the number of ants in a given area. Eight habitats with 100 ants were filmed with cameras and software to analyze their movement patterns and interaction rates. Data on the ant colony's adaptation can be used to build various algorithms, or sets of steps to solve a mathematical problem. For example, ant-based algorithms could help scientists develop cheaper, more efficient strategies for robot-based seaching and exploration.

Would you like a robot to do some of your tasks?Do you think we could just send robots into space?

7. My microbes grow better than your micobesPeople collected swabs of micro-organims from museums, historical monuments, football stadiums, and weird places like Sue the T.Rex at Chicago's field meseum. University of California - Davis transferred those samples to petri dishes, incubated them to see whichgrew into colonies and identified 45 of them and sent them to the space station! Scientists need to know how various micobes behave in space before we seal up people and their microbes in a spacecraft for a long trip

together to Mars. The 48 samples and identical cultures on Earth will be analyzed to see how their growth between microgravity and the ground.These microbes have their own web page and you can see what microbes were sent into space and how they are doing!

www.spacemicobes.org.

Fun links to the Space Station:Space station update: NASA.gov (click on space station link)Live view from the space station: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-streamNASA tv and Space station: http://www.cosmosplus.com/live

Engaging Questions1. Do you think it is easy living on the Space Station?

2. What would be the most difficult part of being on the space station?

3. Do you think the countries should continue space exploration?

4. What would you like the astronauts to study in space?

Curious Dragonfly LLCTrina Terrellwww.curiousdragonfly.com303-903-5319